Last year John started his own business and while it was in the industry that he had been working in for years, it brought a lot of changes to our family. The most noticeable to Jackson was that Daddy was now spending a lot of time working at home, rather than in an office. He didn’t understand that just because Daddy wasn’t going to an office, didn’t mean that Daddy wasn’t working. I kept trying to explain to him that similar to how Mommy works at home on her website, Daddy was working at home for his business. Though that still didn’t put an end to the questioning.
It’s hard for kids to understand what Mom or Dad does when it tends to fall outside of the 9-5 norm. My husband sometimes works 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week. I write in the early morning or after the kids have gone to bed or during nap time. It’s hard to explain to kids, that when you are an entrepreneur and own a business, your job may not look like other parents jobs.
We were recently sent Venture Kits Treats to Go which teaches kids how to start a business and walks them through the steps of launching a product. I was really excited to receive a Venture Kit to review since there are only 500 being released at this time. I was also excited because as a family filled with business owners I thought this would give Jack a chance to understand what Mom and Dad do.
How Venture Kits Work:
Venture Kits takes kids step by step through starting a business. First they determine a product, for our Treats to Go kit we choose Chocolate Covered Pretzels.
Next we made a menu with our product and our contact information on it. We left room to go back and add the price.
We purchased our ingredients and calculated the price of our product. Which came to $9.00 (rounded up) for a bag of pretzels, bag of chocolate chips and a container of sprinkles. We decided to make 10 bags, making the cost per bag $.90.
Then we did market research by asking three people what they would pay for a bag of chocolate covered pretzels. We settled on a price of $2.00 a bag.
To set the price for our product we took the results of our research and used that to form a reasonable price. We added the price to the menu that we had created.
Jackson had to “buy” the ingredients from me. This made me an “investor” in his company that he would have to pay back.
Next we needed to find customers to sell them too. Venture Kits has a script kids can use to sell their products and tips for talking to customers.
Once we had customers (Dad), Jackson completed the order form and made the treat bags to deliver to his customer. We also made some to deliver to his class, the Venture Kits box works well for delivering treats or displaying products.
After Jackson sold his product, we needed to distribute the income. First he counted his money, then he paid me back for my initial investment. It was up to him to decide what to do next with his profit. He could save it, donate it, spend it or invest it back in his business. Big decisions for a 5-year-old that definitely required a lot of debate.
What We Liked About Venture Kits
- It was a fun activity that we could do as a family.
- Teaches critical thinking skills.
- Helps kids practice writing and verbal skills.
- Uses simple math in real life situations.
- Encourages kids to think outside the box
What to Know About Venture Kits
- Venture Kits are for kids ages 10 and up. Though younger kids can easily do it with a parents help.
- Venture Kits are designed by real entrepreneurs and Harvard MBAs, reviewed by real grade and high school teachers, and tested by real kids.
- The Venture Plan is a totally unique approach to learning entrepreneurship. Its combination of “steps” and “tips” strikes the perfect balance between strict instructions and total freedom, and provides a manageable guide that kids can follow through to the end.
- Many more kits are on the way: look out for VK Art Auction and VK Talent Show coming soon! They will be announced on our newsletter first, which readers can sign up via our website.
- Treats To-Go is the first kit available to the public, and it is out in limited release! Only 500 prototype kits will be released at this time (400 for sale), and we will use the feedback from our customers to work on the next version. Kits cost $25 and can only be purchased via www.venturekits.com
Our finished product and menu. He was very proud of himself.
Jackson and I completed our Venture Kit over the course of a few days. We really enjoyed doing the activity together and working together to make a product. I enjoyed seeing the pride that he took in creating his menu and helping me make the product. We talked about making sure our products were good quality so that the customers would buy them. We discussed why we needed to charge more than the cost of our items. I think Venture Kits provided an fun learning opportunity and inspired a lot of creativity.
I was provided with a Venture Kits to review. I decided to review this because I love the concept and the opportunity to support a fellow mompreneur. If you are a Mom who has developed a product or service I would love to talk to you about featuring it here.
Enter to win your own Venture Kit.Giveaway is open to US Residents only and prize will be fulfilled by Venture Kits.
So fun! What a great way to teach kids about business! I love that!